BELLE PLAINE – For Cold Spring, another chapter in its storied history was entered with the capturing of yet another state championship.

The book's getting pretty thick.

For the surprising Beaudreau's Bar Saints of St. Cloud, the hope is that their improbable playoff run that culminated Monday may be the beginning of what for the moment is still a short story.

Cold Spring beat Beaudreau's 3-1 at Tiger Park in a matchup of Sauk Valley League and Region 7B opponents.

"Unbelievable;" said Springers winning pitcher Justin Thompson, who had an unlikely day himself. "It's awesome."

The victory gave the Springers their ninth state championship and second in a row. Cold Spring, in its third final in three years, and 13th in team history, did it the way Springers teams have done it often in their past: with superior pitching and defense.

"It's a blast every time," said left fielder Alex Jungels, whose two-run double with one out in the fourth inning proved to be the difference. "The thing about this team is that everybody wants that situation (batting with the game on the line).

"It's just whether or not you get up to do it, though."

Earlier Monday, the Springers advanced to the championship by beating the Moorhead Brewers, 4-2. Their game with Moorhead (34-5) had been suspended with the Springers leading 3-1 with one out in the fifth inning.

It resumed Monday afternoon with a twist. Instead of Thompson finishing up what he started Sunday night, Zach Femrite got the mound assignment instead.

The starter

Manager Tim Illies said he debated a great deal who to start, finally deciding while sitting pool side at his hotel in Shakopee.

But pitching with short rest is old hat for the 35-year-old, who pitched a lot more in 2013 when the Springers needed two games to down Shakopee. Toss in a home run to left and the hard-throwing right-hander had his second straight MVP award.

"I was talking to Thomps (Justin Thompson) before they announced it that I had no idea who was going to get it," Femrite said. "No one really stood out."

Well, sort of.

Thompson certainly did, as did a number of his teammates. The 22-year-old from Chanhassen came back and started the championship game after throwing 41/3 innings Sunday night.

"I came into (Monday) expecting to throw the first game," the 2014 St. John's University graduate said. "That (not pitching right away) caught me off guard. But I knew I'd come back and get the next one. Femrite just doesn't falter."

He held Beaudreau's to seven hits, striking out eight and walking two. The Saints (18-14) got their lone run on a solo homer by Phil Imholte.

Otherwise, the Springers fielded flawlessly, making no errors and scratched for runs, as they did in the Moorhead game when they had five hits, including two RBI from Femrite.

The bats

The Springers had three hits off Beaudreau's right-hander Ryan Schneider, but they made all of them count.

Femrite led off the bottom of the third with a single and went to second when Tyler Geislinger walked. Zach Hinkemeyer then laid down a well-placed sacrifice bunt fielded by Schneider, who threw it into right field, enabling Femrite to score.

A great throw by Beaudreau's second baseman Brian Minks nailed Geislinger in a close play at the plate.

In the fourth, Drew Van Loy led off with a walk and Ben Griffin followed with a base hit through the shortstop hole that took a weird hop. Ryan Holthaus sacrificed the two runners to second and Jungels followed with a double.

The good part of the Jungels story was that he was hit for Friday night and it nearly happened again Monday. Instead, he got the big hit and ended up making the all-tournament team with Femrite and Thompson.

It was also a great moment for Hinkemeyer, the 22-year-old shortstop. Hinkemeyer, who just wrapped up his baseball career at Concordia-Moorhead, missed last year's state final because he was studying in Ireland.

He was one of a number of reasons the Springers were desperately shorthanded last season. They were shorthanded again Monday, but played through it.

Mathias Buttala, a key pitcher who plays at Minnesota State-Mankato, has a sore elbow and couldn't throw. Reed Pfannenstein, a hard-throwing right-hander, is back at school in Fargo at North Dakota State.

It left Illies and assistant coach Dave Hinkemeyer, Zach's dad, with fewer options on the mound. But Thompson fixed that.

Strong run

The loss ended a surprising run for Beaudreau's. The Saints were a sub-.500 team for a good chunk of the season and had the fourth seed in Region 7B before getting their whole roster together and playing extremely well in the playoffs.

"We knew what we had when we had everyone together," said Ryan Schneider, who went the distance Monday, striking out seven, walking three and allowing three hits and one earned run. "We had a couple of opportunities. We just didn't come through. That's baseball."

The Saints made it the final in their first season with Beaudreau's Bar and Bemboom Fencing as their main sponsors. Beaudreau's sponsored an amateur baseball team in the 1980s and '90s and enjoyed great success.

This club is made up of players from St. Cloud teams no longer around: the St. Cloud Snappers, the Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill and the Granite City Grays. They meshed together well with a team that is quite young, with everyone in their teens and 20s, except for 36-year-old Dan Kronenberg, who doesn't start.

"Boy, did they play good those young guys from St. Cloud," Cold Spring manager Tim Illies said. "They play hard, aggressive and did everything right. That's a real good club."

"We're just hoping we can keep it together with the same core group of guys," said Brian Anderson, who co-manages Beaudreau's with Ryne Gregory. "These young guys are pretty good.

"As long as a couple more players come along every three or four years, we should be OK."

Springers' future

So should Cold Spring. The Springers have successfully mixed in young players to their core of veteran players. Femrite would be the veteran group. He is the first back-to-back tournament MVP since Andy Bulson did it for Cold Spring in the Springers' state championship seasons of 2000-01.

"They (the Springers) did just enough to win, obviously," Anderson said. "That was a pretty gutsy performance by Thompson after throwing Sunday night. He was obviously struggling to throw strikes early and then he settled down."

Anderson, who also catches, said he hasn't thrown back-to-back nights very often. He is, however, quite happy to be in Cold Spring.